Swimming appliance.



D. SMITH SWIMMING APPLIANCE.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 5, 1009.

Patented Oct. 18,1910.

- WITNESSES ATTORNEYS THE NKRRIS P515125 cm, WASHINGTON, nc.

DANIEL SMITH, 0F GRIFFIN CORNERS, NEW YORK.

SWIMMING APPLIANCE.

Wrasse.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Grifiin Corners, in the county of Delaware and State of NewYork, have invented a new and Improved Swimming Appliance, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a new and improved device to be attached tothe human foot, in swimming, in order to enable the swimmer to obtain agreater leverage 011 the water and thus have a more powerful stroke, sothat he may travel more rapidly through the water.

An object of this invention is to provide a web foot with a membranecapable of being collapsed and extended at will by the flexing of thefoot at the ankle joint.

A further object of this invention is to provide a web foot with meansfor protecting the sole of the human foot, and at the same time havingattached thereto means for increasing the leverage of the human foot atwill, on the water.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a device whichwill be simple in construction, strong, durable, easily manipulated andcontrolled, and inexpensive to manufacture.

These and further objects, together with the construction andcombination of,parts, will be more fully described hereinafter andparticularly set forth in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views, and in which Figure 1 is a view inelevation, showing a pair of my devices attached to a swimmer in the actof using the same. Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view, showing oneof my devices attached to the human foot, with the membrane in itsextended position; and Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. showing the footflexed downwardly, with the membrane in its collapsed position.

Referring more particularly to the separate parts of my device, 1indicates a shoe or sandal, which is adapted to he slipped Specificationof Letters Patent.

Application filed November 5, 1909.

Patented Oct. 18, 1910.

Serial No. 526,392.

011 to a human foot 2, so as to furnish a protection for the sole of thefoot, and also furnish a support for the web portion, to be described.

The sandal 1 consists of a sole 3, to which is secured at the front endthereof, in any well known manner, as by means of stitching 4, a toeclip 5, which may be of any suitable flexible material, such as softleather. Secured to the rear of the sole 3 by any suitable means, suchas stitching 6, there is provided a heel piece 7. In order to secure thesandal to the foot, there is provided a flexible connection or strap 8,which is permanently secured to the heel piece 7 by any suitable means,such as a rivet 9, at one end, and is detachably attached to the heelpiece 7 at the other end by means of a buckle 10, which is secured to anauxiliary strap 11, which in turn is permanently secured to the heelpiece 7. There is also provided another flexible strap 12, which isadapted to entirely encircle the ankle, above the joint thereof, andwhich has its ends secured together by means of a suitable buckle Thereis provided on this strap 12, and so located that it will extend acrossthe front of the shin bone of the human leg, a curved metal member 1a,which is secured to the strap 12 in any well known manner, as by meansof rivets 15. This member 1 1 is provided with a pair of lugs 16,between which is pivoted a main rib or rod 17 of the web foot proper 18.

Adjacent the pivotal connection of the rib 1'7 with the lugs 16, thereare provided on the rib 17 a pair of lugs 19, extending from each sideof the rib 17, and between which are pivotally connected a pair ofauxiliary ribs or rods 20 and 21. Secured to the auxiliary ribs 20, 21by any suitable means, such as stitching 21*, there is provided aflexible membrane 22, which may be of any suitable form and material,such as cotton, Japanese silk or rubber. In order to further secure themembrane 22, there are provided edge cords 23, which are threadedthrough openings in the outer ends of the ribs 17, 20 and 21.

In order to adjustably connect the auxiliary ribs 20 and 21 with themain rib 17,

there are provided a pair of links 2'1 and 25, which are pivotallysecured at one end to the ribs 20 and 21, and are also pivotally securedat their opposite ends to a sleeve 26, which is slidingly mounted on themain rib 17 In order to open and close the membrane 22 and the ribs 20and 21, there is provided on the sleeve 26, a standard 27, which ispivotally connected with a standard 28 on a bracket 29 which is securedto the toe 5 in any well known manner, as by means of rivets 30. Thus,by bending the foot up and down, the sleeve 26 will be slid in and out,thus extending and collapsing the membrane 22. In order to furthersupport the membrane 22 and take up the excessive strain thereon when itis forced against the water in its extended position, there are provideda pair of guy cords 31 and 32, which are secured in the openings in theouter ends of the ribs 20 and 21 at one end, and are also secured attheir opposite ends to a pair of brackets 33, which are secured in anywell known manner to the toe 5.

The operation of the device will be readily understood when taken inconnection with the above description. 1

A pair of the web feet are attached to the feet of the swimmer by meansof the straps or flexible connections 8 and 12. The sandal portions 1form efficient protectors for the soles of the feet, so that the swimmermay travel on clam shells, cobble stones or the like, without danger ofinjuring his feet. The web foot proper 18 is located out of the wayabove the instep, so that it will not interfere with the swimmerspropulsion on land. When the swimmer desires to utilize the increasedleverage while swimming in the water, he flexes the foot upwardly fromthe ankle joint. This action opens out the auxiliary ribs 20 and 21,thereby spreading the membrane 22, so as to form an increased surface,which will enable the swimmer to exert a. more efficient kick on thewater through which he is traveling. When the swimmer desires todecrease the resistance, as in drawing up his foot for another stroke,all that it is necessary to do is to bend the foot downward. This actionautomatically closes or collapses the auxiliary ribs 20 and 21, and thusfolds up the membrane 22. lVith a little practice, this action willbecome automatic, so that the swimmer on his kicking stroke willautomatically extend the web foot, and on his recovery stroke willautomatically collapse the web foot by flexing his own foot at theankle.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. In a device of the class described, the

ed to manipulate said auxiliary ribs relative to said main rib.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a pluralityof pivotally connected members, of a membrane interconnected with saidmembers, and means operated at will for manipulating said members toextend and collapse said membrane.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with a sandal, ofan ankle support, a plurality of ribs pivotally connected to said anklesupport, a membrane connected to said ribs, means connecting said ribswith said sandal, and additional means for taking up the strain on saidribs.

In a device of the class described, the combination with a sandal, of anankle support, a main rib pivot-ally connected to said ankle support, anauxiliary rib pivotally connected to said main rib, a membrane connectedto said ribs, a sleeve slidingly 'supported 011 said main rib, linksconnecting said auxiliary rib with said sleeve, and means for connectingsaid sleeve with said sandal.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination with a footsupport, of an an kle support, a main rib pivotally connected to saidankle support, auxiliary ribs pivotally connected to said main rib, amembrane connected to said ribs, links pivotally connected to saidauxiliary ribs, a sleeve slidingly supported on said main rib andpivotally connected to said links, and means for pivotally connectingsaid sleeve with said foot support.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination with a footsupport, of an ankle support, a main rib pivotally connected to saidankle support, auxiliary ribs piv0tally connected to said main rib, a.membrane connected to said ribs, a sleeve slidingly mounted on said mainrib, means for connecting said sleeve with said auxiliary ribs, meansfor connecting said sleeve with said foot support, and guy cords forconnecting said auxiliaryribs with said foot support.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination with a sandal, ofmeans for detachably connecting said sandal to the foot, l cordsconnecting said auxiliary ribs with an ankle support, a main ribpivotally consaid sandal.

nected to said ankle support a plurality of In testimony whereof I havesigned my auxiliary ribs pivotally connected to said name to thisspecification in the presence of 5 main rib, a membrane connected tosaid two subscribing Witnesses.

ribs, a sleeve slidin 'ly mounted on said main rib, links pivo lallyconnecting said DANIEL SMITH sleeve With said auxiliary ribs, a lug onsaid W it-nesses: sleeve, a lug on sald sandal pivota-lly coni Lnorom)ADRIAN DE Rosa, l0 nected with sald lug 011 sa d sleeve, and guy 1PHILIP F. SOHAEFER.

